2025

WordPress with Docker – Jumpstart

Here’s a straightforward docker-compose setup for running WordPress locally with persistent data, mapped plugins directory, and custom PHP upload settings. I use it as a Dev environnement but should work for prod with minor changes.

The Configuration

Create a new directory and the following “docker-compose.yaml”

---
services:
  db:
    container_name: 'wordpress-db'
    image: 'mysql:8.0'
    volumes:
      - './data/mysql:/var/lib/mysql'
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: CHANGEME_SQL_PASSWORD_CHANGEME
      MYSQL_DATABASE: wordpress
      MYSQL_USER: wordpress
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: wordpress_password
  www:
    container_name: 'wordpress-www'
    depends_on:
      - db
    image: 'wordpress:latest'
    ports:
      - 8888:80
    environment:
      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: 'db:3306'
      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wordpress
      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: CHANGEME_SQL_PASSWORD_CHANGEME
      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: wordpress
    volumes:
      - "./wordpress:/var/www/html"
      - "./plugins:/var/www/html/wp-content/plugins"
      - ./uploads.ini:/usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/uploads.ini

And here is my uploads.ini file for reference, this is probably too much for production, tune accordingly.

file_uploads = On
memory_limit = 500M
upload_max_filesize = 500M
post_max_size = 500M
max_execution_time = 600

Key Features

This setup provides:

– MySQL 8.0 database with persistent storage
– Latest WordPress container with mapped directories
– Custom PHP upload settings via uploads.ini
– Exposed ports for direct database access (18766) and web access (6680)

Usage

Start the stack with:

$ docker-compose up -d
or
$ docker-compose up --pull always -d  # To force pulling the images.

Access WordPress at http://localhost:8888 and complete the installation. Your database will be preserved in ./data/mysql, and you can manage plugins directly through the ./plugins directory.

Enjoy !